Renault renews daily rental focus | Fleet News

The move is in direct contrast to the position the manufacturer took in 2007 which saw it pull back massively from short-cycle business – reducing its annual rental volumes from 25,000 to 8,000 units.

At the time, the manufacturer said it was not prepared to continue doing unprofitable business.

As a result of the decision, Renault’s fleet sales have been in freefall, and currently stand at 39,262 units (September YTD) – a 65.7% drop on 2008.

Now, the UK division is to adopt the sales strategy of its European cousins, and this will involve daily rental and Motability sales.

Jerome Stoll, Renault’s executive vice-president for sales and marketing and corporate sales, said: “We are launching a specific plan to recoup market share and bring the UK market in line with the rest of Europe.

“This will include Motability and rental sales, although this will not be a case of doing business at all costs.”

Stoll added: “I want the UK to recover its market share at 5% (it currently stands at 2.7%), and it is obvious we have to work on the fleet side. We need to look to the profitability of the business we do - I don’t want a stop and go policy.

“But I won’t accept the UK saying it has achieved a 5% market share but that it is all through Motability. Roland (Bouchara, Renault UK managing director) has to deliver profit, volume and free cash flow – how knows what I expect.”

Stoll accepts that Renault has problems with products – Laguna is not selling well in the UK while Koleos is struggling, both selling around 2,000 units so far this year.

He added: “Our brand has been a little damaged in the past, but quality and design has improved.” He also appreciates the problems with currency fluctuations, with the pound weakening against the euro – the currency that Renault UK buys its car in.

Currently, Renault sales in the UK stand at 79,172 units to the end of September – a 47.7% drop on 2008. That equates to a market share of 2.73% – in 2008 that was a 4.4% share. In fleet, it has sold 13,447 cars this year – 65.7% down on 2008’s 39,262. So, corporate strategy dictates a withdrawal from rental and Motability business which is suffering poor profitability primarily due to currency exchange. Local UK management predicted the massive reduction in volume and the resultant impact on market share and brand identity but no-one listened. The result is market share does indeed go into freefall and brand image is badly tarnished. Solution - fire the local fleet sales expert who warned you of the consequences in the first place.

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